Alabama’s newest congressman estimates that six more rural hospitals could close in his district in the coming years.

That would leave just two rural hospitals, outside of Mobile and Montgomery, across the 13 counties Rep. Shomari Figures represents.

“This is not sustainable, and it’s an issue that goes beyond health care access,” said Figures, a Democrat from Mobile. “It significantly impacts the economic vitality of rural communities because businesses and people do not want to be in areas that do not have hospitals.”

In March, Figures, along with Brian Jack, a Republican Congressman from Georgia who previously served as the White House Director of Political Affairs during Donald Trump’s first term, introduced a bill to help save rural hospitals.

It would provide grants up to $5 million for rural hospitals to support operational costs, which is currently something that is restricted on the federal level, according to Figures.

“It’s a bipartisan piece of legislation which is critical,” Figures said. “I think it shows the urgency of this issue and shows the prevalence of this issue and how this issue is not one that discriminates along party lines.”

Hospitals could also have the opportunity to receive the grants more than once, so long as it’s not within the same five-year period.

Figures told AL.com that as he’s traveled throughout his district, stretching from Mobile to Montgomery to Russell County on the Georgia line, hospital closures are the top issue constituents bring up.

“If the rural hospitals close in Butler County and Crenshaw County, all of those people will then begin to flood into Montgomery County, which already has the problem with Jackson Hospital being in bankruptcy, and so this is an issue that that is impacting us in a very unique way in the state of Alabama, and one that we have to be serious about fixing,” Figures said.

At least seven rural hospitals in Alabama have closed since 2011. And more than half of the state’s remaining 52 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, with 22 identified as being at “immediate risk” of shutting down within the next three years.

Along with U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, who represents Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Black Belt communities in west Alabama, Figures believes “we probably have, if not the worst two, certainly two of the worst healthcare access and outcome districts in America.”

State legislators have tried addressing the issue during the legislative session, proposing solutions like improved tax credits for rural hospitals and establishing a tax-deductible fund to support rural hospitals, which have both passed the House chamber.

Medicaid expansion, which is a solution many say would bring more substantial support to rural hospitals, is still not being considered, according to lawmakers and experts. When Jackson Hospital filed for bankruptcy this year, officials stated that in 2023 alone the hospital spent over $45 million on the care of uninsured patients.

But Gov. Kay Ivey and other state officials have rejected calls to expand Medicaid, something that must be done on a state level.

And while on the federal level, grants and funding have been cut, including for health programs and possibly Medicaid, Figures still believes that if the bill was passed, the Department of Health and Human Services would distribute the funding.

“Look, we definitely understand the environment that we’re in,” Figures said. “But we also understand that the environment that we’re in locally is one that requires action and some tangible results if we’re going to keep our rural hospitals open and keep our rural communities being a place that can grow, thrive and even be able to sustain themselves.”